California Civil Harassment Restraining Order: Filing and Hearing

A California civil harassment restraining order is a court order under Code of Civil Procedure Section 527.6 that protects you from someone who is harassing, threatening, or stalking you when that person is not a close family member or intimate partner. You file the petition with your local superior court, a judge reviews it the same day and can grant immediate temporary protection, and a full hearing is held within about three weeks. If you win at the hearing, the order can last up to three years.

Who This Order Is For

This is the right order when the person harassing you is a neighbor, coworker, acquaintance, roommate, stranger, or anyone else outside a close personal relationship. If the harasser is a current or former spouse, domestic partner, someone you dated, a parent of your child, or a close blood relative, the correct filing is a domestic violence restraining order under the Family Code, not this one.

California law recognizes three categories of behavior that qualify as civil harassment: unlawful violence, a credible threat of violence, or a course of conduct directed at you that seriously alarms or harasses you and serves no legitimate purpose.¹ One violent act or one credible threat is enough by itself. Non-violent behavior has to be a pattern: repeated harassing phone calls, following or surveilling you, unwanted messages by text, email, social media, or mail. The conduct does not have to include a direct threat. It has to be something a reasonable person would find genuinely distressing, done for no legitimate reason.

The court can extend protection beyond you alone. If the judge finds good cause, other family or household members at risk from the same person can be named in the order.¹

What It Costs to File

There is no filing fee if your petition is based on violence, a credible threat of violence, or stalking. For civil harassment that does not involve violence or threats, the filing fee is $435 as of January 2026.² If you cannot afford the fee, file a Request to Waive Court Fees (Form FW-001) and the court will decide based on your household income.³

The Forms You Need

Every California superior court uses the same Judicial Council forms. Three are essential:

Form CH-100, Request for Civil Harassment Restraining Orders, is the main petition where you describe what happened.
Form CH-110, Temporary Restraining Order, is submitted blank for the judge to fill in if temporary protection is granted.
Form CLETS-001 is a confidential information sheet that gives law enforcement the details they need to enforce the order, including the restrained person’s physical description and known addresses.

All three are available on the California Courts website.⁴

Writing a Declaration That Works

The written declaration you attach to Form CH-100 is what the judge actually relies on. Organize it chronologically and be specific. Include exact dates, times, locations, and a plain description of what the person said or did during each incident. Vague statements like “they kept bothering me” carry almost no weight. Something like “On March 12, 2026, at approximately 8 p.m., the respondent pounded on my front door for 15 minutes while shouting threats” gives the judge something concrete to evaluate.

Attach whatever backs up your account. Text messages, emails, voicemails, social media posts, photos, police reports, and medical records all help. Written statements from witnesses who saw or heard the harassment strengthen your case. Label each piece and reference it in your declaration so the judge can follow along.

What Happens After You File

Take your paperwork to the clerk at your local superior court. A judge reviews the petition the same day you file, or the next business day if you file late in the afternoon.¹ The other person is not present and does not yet know about the case.

To grant a temporary restraining order, the judge needs reasonable proof that harassment occurred and that you would suffer serious harm without immediate protection. A TRO takes effect the moment it is signed and protects you until the full hearing, which must be scheduled within 21 days, extendable to 25 for good cause.¹

If the judge denies the TRO, you still get a hearing in that same 21-to-25-day window. You just do not have temporary protection in the meantime. A denial at this stage does not end your case.

Serving the Other Person

The other person has to be formally served before the hearing can go forward. They receive copies of your petition, the TRO if one was granted, and the Notice of Court Hearing (Form CH-109).⁵ You cannot do this yourself. The server must be at least 18 and not a party or witness in the case.⁶

Options include the county sheriff or marshal, a professional process server, or any adult friend or family member outside the case. After service, the server fills out a proof of service form, and you file it with the clerk before the hearing.

If you genuinely cannot locate the person, you can ask the court for permission to serve by publication in a local newspaper or, if you qualify for a fee waiver, by posting at the courthouse. You will need to document every step you took to find the person.⁷

The Hearing

The hearing is where the judge decides whether to issue an order that lasts beyond the temporary period. Both sides attend, present testimony, introduce evidence, and can question each other. The respondent can file a written response beforehand using Form CH-120.⁸

You carry the burden of proof, and the standard is clear and convincing evidence, higher than what applies in most civil cases.¹ The judge needs to be firmly persuaded that the harassment happened and is likely to continue. Your declaration and documentary evidence do most of the work. Live testimony fills gaps, but a well-organized paper trail is what wins these hearings.

If the evidence is sufficient, the judge issues the order. If not, the petition is denied and any TRO expires immediately.

What the Order Can Do

A granted order can last up to three years at the judge’s discretion. If no expiration date appears on the order, it defaults to three years from the date of issuance.¹

Protections can include:

A stay-away requirement keeping the restrained person a specified distance from your home, workplace, vehicle, and other designated places.
A no-contact provision banning contact in person, by phone, text, email, mail, or through a third party.
A ban on stalking, threatening, attacking, and destroying your personal property.
Exclusive control of a pet and an order barring the restrained person from going near the animal, if the judge finds good cause.

The judge can add any other restrictions needed to make the core protections work.¹

Anyone subject to the order is prohibited from owning, possessing, purchasing, or receiving any firearm or ammunition for the entire time the order is in effect, and the judge is required to order the restrained person to give up any firearms they currently have.¹ Violating the firearms restriction is a separate criminal offense under Penal Code Section 29825.

Serving the Final Order

After the judge grants the order, you generally need to serve the restrained person with a copy of the signed order (Form CH-130). The judge will specify on the form whether service must be in person or by mail. The sheriff will serve it at no charge, or you can use any adult who is not involved in the case. File the proof of service with the court once it is done. If you skip this step, police may not be able to enforce the order.⁹

If the Restrained Person Violates the Order

Any intentional violation is a misdemeanor. A standard violation carries up to a $1,000 fine, up to one year in county jail, or both. Penalties climb higher when a violation causes physical injury, and higher still for repeat violations involving violence or injury, which can lead to state prison.¹⁰

Call law enforcement immediately if a violation occurs. Police can arrest the person on the spot. Keep a copy of the order with you or in your car. The order lives in law enforcement databases, but a physical copy speeds enforcement during a live encounter.

Renewing Before It Expires

You can ask to renew starting up to three months before the expiration date, and the request has to be filed before the order actually expires. If it lapses, renewal is off the table and you would need to start over with a new petition.¹¹

You do not need to prove new acts of harassment to get a renewal. The statute allows up to three additional years without any showing of further harassment since the original order was issued.¹ Renewal is not automatic. You still file a request and attend a hearing where you show that continued protection is warranted.

If You Leave California

The order does not lose its force if you move out of state or the restrained person crosses a state line. Under the federal Violence Against Women Act, every state and territory must treat a valid protection order from another state as if it were issued locally.¹² The federal definition of “protection order” is broad enough to cover civil harassment orders, not just domestic violence orders.¹³

You do not have to register the order in the new state for it to be enforceable. Local law enforcement is required to enforce it on sight.¹² Carrying a certified copy when you travel makes enforcement smoother in practice.

1
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 527.6
2
California Courts. Statewide Civil Fee Schedule Effective January 1, 2026
3
California Courts. Ask for a Fee Waiver
4
California Courts. Civil Harassment Restraining Order Forms
5
California Courts. Responding to a Civil Harassment Restraining Order
6
California Courts. Having Someone Other Than the Sheriff Serve Your Restraining Order
7
California Courts. Ask to Serve by Publication or Posting
8
California Courts. Response to Request for Civil Harassment Restraining Orders
9
California Courts. Serve Your Long-Term Civil Harassment Restraining Order
10
California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 273.6
11
Judicial Branch of California. Ask to Renew a Civil Harassment Restraining Order
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 2265 – Full Faith and Credit Given to Protection Orders
13
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 2266 – Definitions